SEND Co-production Toolkit

There are many benefits to introducing co-production:

• by involving everyone from the start you are more likely to get things right the first time and use resources in a way that best helps people
• co-production allows everyone involved to use their skills and knowledge to add to the design of a service, and have a say about the services they use
• each individual or group can bring new ideas, experiences, and skills to the development of services
• co-production focuses on solutions not problems; this helps to involve people in the work of public services

Co-production involves everyone working together, bringing their own skills and experiences, to create a service or make a decision that works for everyone.

Co-production develops equal working partnerships between:

• young people who use services
• children and their families
• carers and professionals.

By bringing together different viewpoints, knowledge, and experience, everyone can work together to help make services better or to design new services.

In other words, co-production means that the way of working is ‘done with people’ rather than ‘done to people’. The following video from the Scottish Co-production Network explains more about co-production.

Co-production is in addition to other ways of working such as consultation and engagement. Every participant has equal input and decision-making ability.

The co-production ladder shows the difference between co-production and different ways of working with others.

Credit: Think Local Act Personal

Faced with the premature closure of the residential college which Z attended, a meeting was held with key stakeholders including Z that identified that the residential provision, work-focused learning and therapeutic input set out in her EHCP were still required. Whilst other similar placements may have been available in other areas, one of the key concerns of Z was that she would move away from the friendship group she had developed and from an area with which she was familiar, setting her back in terms of her confidence to travel independently.

As a result, the Trust which ran the college offered to provide suitable replacement accommodation with others in her friend group and to work with local providers to establish a work placement based training programme to meet needs identified in the EHCP. This was an unusual situation as no education placement could be named; but it was agreed that this offer would be in the best interest of Z, so it has been made to work and she continues to flourish.

Buckinghamshire’s current SEND strategy was developed on a fully co-produced basis. It began with an open parent and professionals meeting which RAG (Red, Amber, Green) rated the current strategy, identifying things which remained to be addressed. The same meeting then considered additional aspirations which the new strategy should include.

Following this initial meeting, a working group of key stakeholders (including parents, schools, services and council staff) built on these initial discussions and developed a structure based on the Preparing for Adulthood themes. Discussion was not based on any assumptions or preconceptions about what was currently possible or funded.

The draft strategy was subject to a round of public consultation and subsequent editing to produce a strategy to which everyone was willing to subscribe.